SALFIT (Ma'an) -- A Palestinian teen was shot and critically injured on Tuesday by Israeli forces in the central occupied West Bank district of Salfit, near the illegal Ariel settlement.

Conflicting reports emerged on Tuesday, with Palestinian sources saying the teenager, identified as 15-year-old Hamed al-Masri, was shot during clashes, while Israeli media and army sources reported that he was shot for attempting to carry out a stabbing attack.

Palestinian security sources told Ma’an that al-Masri, a resident of Salfit, was shot and injured during clashes that erupted near the Ariel settlement.

He was reportedly treated on the scene by Israeli medics, detained by Israeli forces, and then taken to an Israeli hospital for treatment where his injuries were reported as critical.

An Israeli army spokesperson confirmed the shooting to Ma’an, saying that the boy was attempting to carry out a stabbing attempt near the Ariel settlement.

Israeli forces have detained scores of Palestinians, many of the minors, for allegedly being in possession of knives following a spate of alleged and actual small-scale knife attacks by Palestinians that surged in the fall of 2015.

A number of Palestinians have been shot, or killed by Israeli forces for allegedly attempting to carry out attacks or being in possession of a knife.

Though Israeli forces have claimed that Palestinians were allegedly attempting to carry out attacks in a majority of instances when Palestinians were killed, rights groups have disputed Israel's version of events in a number of cases, and argued that many alleged attackers could have been subdued in a non-lethal manner.